On the night of September 14-15, a large-scale UFC tournament will be held in Las Vegas (USA) at the Sphere Arena. It will be headlined by the organization’s bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and the number one in the ranking Merab Dvalishvili. But the winner of this pair will most likely face the Russian Umar Nurmagomedov in the next fight, who after his victory over Corey Sandhagen rose to second place in the rating.
The title race in the bantamweight division is becoming more and more interesting. There is a champion and a top contender, there is Umar, the return of Petr Yan, the former champion of the flyweight division Deiveson Figueiredo is flying to the top – the competition is colossal. But it seems that the plans for the immediate future in the division are already known: Shawn will fight Merab, and Umar Nurmagomedov will face the winner, unless, of course, O’Malley and Dvalishvili give a close fight with a controversial decision, which would require a rematch. Who looks better for brother Khabib?
Umar is ready for a title fight:
This Umar guy would hurt even O’Malley. The Russian is ready for the title
O’Malley and Dvalishvili are completely different fighters, who have only one thing in common – their sport. Initially, no one took Sean seriously because of his appearance and thin physique. But the UFC bosses saw the new Conor McGregor in this extraordinary guy, and they were right. Yes, the victory over Petr Yan was a gift, but Sean made the most of it. After the Russian, O’Malley knocked out the dominant champion at the time, Aljamain Sterling, and Sugar recently made his first defense of the belt, beating Marlon Vera in five rounds. Sean is making significant progress and is a champion for a reason.
Sean O’Malley
Photo: Megan Briggs/Getty Images
O’Malley is one of the best strikers in the division with excellent timing and distance. An ideal example is the knockout in the already mentioned fight with Sterling, when the champion wanted to get close, but received a powerful hook in response. O’Malley’s size allows him to keep his opponents at a distance, and even a fighter like Sterling, who has good wrestling and grappling skills, could not do anything against Sugar, he could not get close and drag him into the fight.
What’s so great about Sean O’Malley?
A ridiculous and scary champion. O’Malley is the best knockout fighter in the division Petr Yan
Well, it’s worth noting separately that Shawn, one of the few in the division, has knockout power. Both Yang and Sandhagen and many others are good at stand-up, but O’Malley can turn the lights out with a single punch, which is rare in the bantamweight division. And combined with size, timing and speed, this is a powerful mix.
Dvalishvili is the exact opposite of the champion. A short, stocky fighter who is distinguished by his extraordinary performance. In the fight with Petr Yan, Merab, pay attention… made 49 takedown attempts, setting a UFC record of 10 attempts per round. Dvalishvili is a real cardio machine, he does not give his opponent a second to rest, he works at a high pace for all 15 minutes or, as was the case with Yan, 25 minutes. Yes, Merab is not strong on the ground, he has only one victory with techniques, and his opponents quickly take to the stand after his takedowns, but it is precisely his ability to work that Dvalishvili is good at. You can get up, but you will immediately find yourself on the ground again.
Merab strives to grab the championship belt:
Friendship is more important than a belt. Dvalishvili is a unique specimen who should have been UFC champion a long time ago
On paper, Dvalishvili remains a more convenient opponent for Umar. Merab is unlikely to be able to take Nurmagomedov down often – if the basic boxer Yan, albeit with a good percentage of takedown defenses, coped with most of the Georgian’s attempts, then Umar can also take advantage of these attempts – after all, Umar has a much stronger ground than Dvalishvili. Well, in a stand-up, Khabib’s brother definitely looks preferable.
Merab Dvalishvili
Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
It will be more difficult with O’Malley. Yes, Sean doesn’t have many fights, but as you can see from his fights, he doesn’t really need them. Sugar has good striking technique and a knockout punch that he can use to catch his opponent. All this, combined with his originality and size, makes Sean a tough opponent for everyone, not for nothing is he at the top of the division;
In any case, no matter who wins the title fight, whether it’s Merab or Sean Umaru, it won’t be easy – after all, this is already an elite level. But Umar proved in his last fight that he is quite ready for serious challenges and is ready to become the new champion.
